Pope Leo XIV met with the archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, at the Vatican on Monday. Mullallyʼs first official visit to Rome as the spiritual leader of the Church of England comes amid strained ecumenical relations and division among Anglicans.
Mullally’s delegation for her April 25–28 visit included representatives from the Anglican Communion and the recently appointed Catholic archbishop of Westminster, Richard Moth.
A more difficult path to full communion
In his address to Mullally and her delegation on April 27, Leo said ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion has recently become more challenging.
“While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades, rendering the pathway to full communion more difficult to discern,” Leo said. “I know that the Anglican Communion is also facing many of these same questions at this time. Nevertheless, we must not allow these continuing challenges to prevent us from using every possible opportunity to proclaim Christ to the world together.”
The pope added that it would be “a scandal if we did not continue to work towards overcoming our differences, no matter how intractable they may appear.”
Beyond Catholic-Anglican dialogue, Mullallyʼs election has further caused significant theological and ecumenical divides within the Anglican Communion, particularly regarding the ordination of women and sexuality.
Pope Leo has affirmed the Catholic Church’s teaching on a male-only priesthood. In the Anglican Communion, notable splits have arisen over the ordination of Mullally as a female bishop, particularly among the Global Anglican Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) and other conservative branches of Anglicanism. In March, GAFCON announced its break with the See of Canterbury.
In 2023, the General Synod of the Church of England controversially voted to approve the blessing of same-sex couples in civil marriages, another point of division among Anglicans.
Hospitality despite differences
After their meeting, the pope and the archbishop recited daytime prayer, part of the Liturgy of the Hours, together in the Chapel of Urban VIII in the Apostolic Palace.
In her address to the pontiff, Mullally thanked him for the opportunity to pray together and encouraged mutual hospitality despite differences.
“In our ecumenical journey, I believe the Holy Spirit is inviting us into a deeper practice of hospitality, not simply as welcome, but as a form of ministry,” Mullally said. “As I begin this ministry, I hope to be a shepherd who loves and cares for the Church, who encourages hospitality despite our differences, who speaks prophetically into our present reality, and who proclaims Christian hope with the confidence that the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains good news for our world today.”
Over the weekend, Mullally also visited the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Peter’s Basilica. On Monday evening, she will preside over choral evensong at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, during which she will commission Bishop Anthony Ball as the archbishop of Canterbury’s official representative to the Holy See.
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